The cold is on its way again

As the Mercury goes down, my pain level goes up. This is an unfortunate side effect of my paralysis. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. I guess I will have to learn to deal with it better than I have in the past, but it is increasingly difficult to concentrate on day-to-day activities, let alone anything more complex, when I am dealing with pain issues. One would think I would have this handled given that I have been dealing with this for over 11 years, but I seem to dread the impending winter more and more every year. I am grateful that the last two winters have been relatively benign and I am especially thankful that the pain for the most part subsides after I had been up a few hours. That is of course if I am able to keep my body relatively warm. God forbid if I get a bone chill. It takes me forever to get warm again. I am elated the brief cold snap we were experiencing for the past few days has subsided and the temperature is back up to 88 today. This is one of the reasons why I live in South Central Florida. The temperature usually does not get too cold for too long.

I have been attempting to read as much as possible and even right, but so far I am only getting some things read and very little of substance written. My writing has really not improve too much and this is evident by the same verbose rambling nonsense which I routinely produce, this notwithstanding. I am, however, trying to improve and I guess that is better than the majority of individuals out there. At least I give a crap.

I recall mentioning previously how I really wanted to get a party planned here in my village, but it is getting late in the year and I am not so sure I will get too many people to show up. However, if we don't try, we won't accomplish anything. So maybe I will get my head out of my rear and try to get something planned out. I broached the idea to one of my neighbors and they seemed really receptive, but I have yet to talk to any of the others.

On a separate topic, I am trying to get into the Big Brother program. After listening to an absolutely heart wrenching story from my backup caregiver the other day, I quickly realized I have been remiss in not trying to be a mentor to some of the young men around here. There are too many young men out there that do not have a positive male influence and I feel I can contribute in that area. No, I am not the best individual in the world, but I do feel I have many attributes which could help someone be able to weigh all their options and possibly take the right steps when it comes time for them to make a critical decision on their own.
I'm going to cut this short and tried to fill out the application for the program, but it is pretty lengthy. It really should be considering all of the weirdos out there who are just looking to dominate children.

Death to liberty?

I originally posted this on my other blog, but I decided to take it off because the majority of people there do not want to read politically slanted material. Since this particular site is where I share my views, I see no problem here. This is rather verbose for the majority of people, but hopefully it will enlighten someone.
One caveat, the first paragraph was intended or my other audience and this particular version of my blog is unaltered. I changed the other one to make it more readily readable.

I have repeatedly repressed my urges to write about anything remotely political, but have on occasion put some politically slanted subjects briefly on this site and then later remove them. I avoid the subject essentially because the majority of the people who read my blogs do not want to read about such nonsense. In spite of all my hesitancy, and the knowledge that the majority of people are not even remotely interested in this subject, I feel the Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006 is beyond politics and is much too exigent of an issue not to be written about. It also helps that the adoption of this Act just pisses me off.

When President George W. Bush signed the Military Commissions Act, he in effect abolished the writ of habeas corpus, not to mention that this law essentially renders our international treaty obligations under the Geneva conventions null and void. Our government has in effect reinterpreted the Geneva Convention and shown our disdain at doing the morally right thing. Therefore, October 17, 2006, the day this Act was signed, will probably be remembered as one of the blackest days in American history and it sadly passed with great fanfare from the extreme right. But what is even more tragic is that more than 90% of the rest of us barely raised a whimper or simply just chose to remain ignorantly bliss to this potentially monumental day. "This is how liberty died; with thunderous applause."

What is habeas corpus and why are these few Latin words, which the majority of us do not even remotely understand the meaning of, so important? Hell, to me, habeas corpus sounds like some poor Hispanic dude died. In reality the words habeas corpus mean to produce the body. The writ of habeas corpus is moreover a vital tool in preserving an individual's right not to be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, as it is afforded to us by the Fifth Amendment of the United States of America's Constitution. Yes, that pesky little thing which gives us all of the freedoms we still "somewhat" enjoy, and the same document which it seems at times the current administration has consistently tried their best to diminish.

The MCA does not merrily suspend the writ of habeas corpus; no, it wipes it out, much like one smashes an annoying fly. Habeas corpus has served as "the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action." With one fluid stroke of the pen, President Bush has squashed habeas corpus as if it was some ephemeral nuisance to his ability to successfully prosecute the War on Terror. The writ of habeas corpus was not some temporizing measure our founding fathers just arbitrarily threw into the mix we know as jurisprudence -- it was much more. Habeas corpus has also served and continues to serve as the bedrock of the English legal system since circa 1215. This is the same system which our fledgling country chose to use as its model in 1789. That is how vital habeas corpus was until last Tuesday.

Am I being too overly dramatic? I really do not think so. If the Supreme Court does not overturn this law, anyone the US president, or his appointed commission, deems to have provided material support to anti-US hostilities can be indefinitely detained without the ability to challenge this detention. Just for clarification, this law encompasses all US citizens, even those who have never left the United States. Perhaps I'd better be careful here or I might be one of the individuals sitting in a Gitmo prison cell wearing orange. And since I would not have the ability to contest my imprisonment, I am sure I would be there until hell freezes over. If you think this cannot happen, guess again. On three previous occasions the then president of the United States used similar acts or orders to justify the imprisonment of fellow US citizens. Franklin D. Roosevelt's interment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, under Executive Order 9066, was the last president to violate the writ of habeas corpus. I truly wonder which future president will have to apologize much like when President Reagan was forced to say sorry to the living internees in 1988.

It is sad how President Bush, with the assistance of a capricious Congress, has succeeded where the terrorists have failed. He has managed to eradicate one of our most cherished privileges without the majority of the country even realizing that he has done so. Those of us who are aware of this travesty and have done nothing, are allowing the fear of fear itself to govern their decision-making process. It is difficult for me to comprehend how our country has come so far in such a short amount of time.

Don't get me wrong; I am not endorsing amnesty for the terrorists or even suggesting they should be tried in a civilian court system. I am contending there are other ways this can be handled legally, without violating the rights of human beings, even if some of them are despicable excuses for one. All one has to do is look at some of the amendments proposed by the members of the Senate in order to get an idea of how we can preserve our integrity while concomitantly aggressively fighting terrorism. Speaking of senators, I am absolutely appalled Senator John McCain, who I admired and respected, knuckled under to pressure and not only allowed, but endorsed this monstrosity. On MSNBC's Hardball, while feebly trying to answer a question, proffered by an Iowa State University student, about why he relented on his steadfast opposition to this Act, Senator McCain contended he was given guarantees the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 would remain intact and therefore the rights of these individuals would be protected. He, however, failed to mention this act has been decried as the first step in eliminating detainees right to issue a writ of habeas corpus (address the courts as to the validity of their detention). If my memory serves me, and I believe it does, the US Supreme Court found much of The Detainee Treatment Act unconstitutional. This is why it became necessary for the President to have Military Commission Act legislated in the first place. I additionally believe the case in which the Supreme Court made this ruling has caused a very well-meaning naval lawyer his career. Unbelievable!

Well, if the abolishment of habeas corpus was not enough, this law was touted by the administration as necessary to clarify the complexities of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, but it has done nothing except put a bigger haze on what is legal and illegal. Under the 1996 War Crimes Act, "violations" of the Geneva Convention's Common Article 3 were considered felonies. Now only "grave breaches" of Common Article 3 are considered crimes. To exacerbate the situation, the Military Commission Act is retroactive to 1997, thereby protecting anyone that is found to have committed violations of the War Crimes Act from prosecution. In other words, if the reports of water boarding (which most define as torture) are correct, those who committed or ordered those acts are now immunized under this disastrous legislation.

I am not going to get into this anymore. There is just simply too much more for a simple guy like myself to adequately cover everything. I will, however, give some of my qualifications for writing this particular entry. As a former military police investigator, I know the proper and legal way to interrogate suspects -- even enemy combatants. If the reports of alleged torture are true, this is definitely not the best way to get actionable intelligence. There are numerous techniques which do not violate some of the most essential elements of the Geneva Convention. We do not have to create "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;" nor do we have to resort to torture. In fact, numerous studies have demonstrated the unreliability of information obtained through torture.

For those of you under the impression that water boarding is not torture, you obviously have not had the awful experience of feeling like you are drowning. As a person who has suffered with extraordinary bouts of pneumonia, I know what it is like to have fluid in my lungs. Believe me when I tell you not being able to breathe and knowing you are closer to death and life is not just uncomfortable, it is torture. Torture with a capital T!
Please, for the sake of our brave soldiers overseas and for those of us who might be victimized by this law, do not let this gross miscarriage of justice continue without voicing your opposition to it. If we, the greatest nation on earth, cannot follow the principles of our own Constitution and the Geneva Convention, how can we expect others to?

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Rantings and more rantings

It is amazing how fast a day goes by. To me it seems as if I only got a couple things accomplished, but at least I did get something done. I finished a blog for my other website and hopefully it will look as good tomorrow as it does right now. Granted, I know I am not the best writer, but I believe I have made my point.

My family came over for dinner today and we had a simple turkey meatloaf. This was my first endeavor making or possibly it would be better to say supervising the meatloaf. It came out okay, but I feel it should have cooked a bit longer and possibly had some onions and peppers. All in all, it was a nice day, except for dealing with the individual that is painting my house. I don't believe I am going to be working with people that are friends of mine too much more. There is one individual, who I consider to be a friend, that I don't mind working for me. This is primarily because he can take it when I tell him something is not exactly as I like it and he doesn't take it personal. He understand that I am simply telling them how I want something done. The person painting my house is a friend who is doing it for extra money. The unfortunate part is she is not exceptionally good at it and she seems to think she is. That aside, at least I'm getting my house painted, but it was the day when she once again began telling me how I should be decorating my house. I don't know what it is, perhaps it is the tone or her total lack of demeanor, but she begins to grate on me and then aggravates the hell out of me. Perhaps after she saw me blow my cork today, she might be treading a little more carefully in the future. She definitely seems to need to be petted about everything. I cannot tell you how many times she has bragged about how well she was able to paint the accent color in my kitchen. It seems as if she has some sort of self-esteem problem. Yes, I used to like to hear I was doing a good job, but I didn't need to hear it every day and practically every hour. She not only need this, but also loved having her own self on the back. "Do you see how well I painted here? See I was able to make everything look perfect here. Man, this melts in perfectly." This is just an example of a couple of minutes after I have gone into the room. Now I'm considering how I am going to manipulate the truth in order to let her know that I am not able to afford to get my house painted right now. It is sad, but I do not want to hurt her feelings, despite how badly she gets on mine.

Well, that's enough unloading for now. I sincerely hope she never reads any of my blogs, because she will definitely know who I'm talking about.

Doing great

I haven’t updated this in a little while, so I thought I would take a brief opportunity to write something down before I forget. Today was extremely eventful. I spent large majority of the day purchasing items and even though I am significantly poorer, I feel that much richer.

I have been invigorated lately. For some reason I have felt compelled to write and I have been doing so, but it seems to be a little more political than I would like. Oh well, at least I am trying to write and feel as if I am accomplishing something, even if it is something trivial to most.

On a different note, my wheelchair seems to be working pretty well and considering all the driving I did today, I thought my neck or shoulder would be sore by now, but that is not the case. In fact, I am getting ready to go back out and take a spin around the block. Oh yeah, another thing I forgot to mention is we were able to get my garage organized well and I am now capable of getting my van in the garage and I am able to load into it without getting out in the elements anymore. The way we organized this also allows me to exit my house from the garage. It has been quite some time since I went over how I get out of my house, so I will briefly go over it.

I utilize my ECU, Ursi, which in turn activates a remote control and opens the door into my garage. I then use Ursi once again to send an electronic signal to open the actual garage door. Now I have the ability to leave my house and the door from my garage into my house automatically closes behind me. When I come back in, I simply run over a mat on the floor which opens the door into my house.

Well enough trivia. I’m going to get going for now and get back to editing a post I am planning on putting on my other blog. Strangely I forgot to mention that the electricity went out this morning and it was quite a scare when my air mattress rapidly lost air.

Just another day

Thankfully my health is doing well and I am keeping busy. Right now we are preparing for a garage sale, but all I am trying to do is get rid of some major items. I do not even care if I give the items away. Therefore, my entries will continue to be short. I did have a rather long entry which I put on my other blog, so I will not even get into it here. Although, the wheelchair problems continue to plague me, but I am still able to operate within my house and around my neighborhood. I'm just hopeful I will be able to regain my ability to focus on a set long-term goal which has great meaning to me.

On a completely separate topic, I am switching out my reading in order to finish a book which I just received from the library and had to have it turned in in relatively short order. It should be a quick read, given that James Patterson is definitely not an extremely complex writer who requires a lot of analysis.

A shocking beginning for a book of any type

I knew the present book I am reading, off and on, "Sundown Towns" by James W. Loewen is a very serious look at racism, but even I wasn't ready for the first words that hit me in the Beginning Chapter. You would think I would be prepared given his early warning in the Note to the Reader which said he was not going to minimize the language used by individuals, such as using euphemisms like the N-word, because "People said what they said and wrote what they wrote; their language is part of the story. Indeed, this language is part of what makes sundown towns distinctive, so I could not tell their story honestly while expurgating the language." However, I was not! Especially when I discovered when this conversation took place.

WARNING! THIS PARAGRAPH CONTAINS INFLAMMATORY LANGUAGE. IT IS NOT MY WORDS. It is the beginning of Chapter 1 and I have quoted it verbatim because it eliminates the hidden dimension of American racism which still exists and will possibly provoke some useful dialogue.

"It is true that 'Anna' stands for 'Ain't No Niggers Allowed'?" I asked at the convenience store in Anna, Illinois, where I had stopped to buy coffee.
"Yes," the clerk replied. "That's sad, isn't it," she added, distancing herself from the policy. And she went on to assure me, "That all happened a long time ago."
"I understand [racial exclusion] is still going on?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied. "That's sad."
-- James W. Loewen's conversation with clerk, Anna, Illinois, October 2001

Even though I have read other books by Loewen, I was still not fully prepared for this initial shock. I anticipated this book going into the history of sundown towns and eliminating the residual effects, not actually chronicling that many of them still exist, albeit without the signage. This book will continue to intrigue me for quite some time since I will be reading it off and on while I am reading other novels and writing other things. Loewen's writing is something which is provocative, but when I do not have two reader for school, I tend to take it in smaller doses. It does, however, leave you hungry for more intellectual books, but sometimes I like the escapist literature.

Just can't seem to lighten up

Why is it I am unable to really write funny entries? I just don't know. When I come up with the ideas which seem to be bouncing around my head, I bring smiles to the faces of everyone to whom I explain what I planned to do, but for some reason when I go to put pen to paper, metaphorically speaking of course, everything turns into serious drivel. It is amazing to me. I had an idea to do a rather humorous entry about where have all the normal looking people gone in television and Hollywood. By the time I got done with my first ideas, it was so serious that I am now left wondering what the hell I was thinking. I just don't know what comes over me. As I am explaining my ideas to everyone else, I do so in a lighthearted manner, but for some reason I get so serious when I am trying to write. Even when I managed to come off as a little less serious, I am brought down to reality by the people who happen to read my writing. For some reason I have an extremely wry sense of humor. Man how I wish I could write like some of the other bloggers I have the privilege of reading.
It could be that I just read too many serious things. Right now, for instance, I am reading an extraordinarily serious book about how racism has been whitewashed from our history. It is a fascinating read, but it is definitely not fill with much levity. Well, speaking of my book, I better get back to my reading, but I thought I would let everyone know I am doing great. I am optimistic and looking forward to what the next days will bring.

Thinking about optimism, I was watching a video of Garth Brooks and I could not help but be inspired. It was his CMT video from 1993 entitled We Will Be Free. It gave me goosebumps, but I am much more emotional than a lot of people.
I wish everyone goodnight and good luck.

Tedium run amok

It seems as if I will get nothing written unless I just write about things that are on my mind right now. So, I give you advance warning that this is going to be a little haphazard, but at least you will get an idea of what is going on in my life right now.
You know my life is becoming increasingly tedious when going to the barbershop is the highlight of a particular day, but that is the case today. My visit to the barber was also enhanced by the fact that I had a really beautiful woman cut my hair. Normally I have some redneck wanna-be, complete with dip in his mouth, that cuts my hair. This upgrade and barbers is definitely a step in the right direction. This trip would have really been completed I could have gotten my nails done in the same area, but time did not permit and I also did not like the fact that all of the nail technicians were Vietnamese. I do not have anything against Vietnamese and normally love diversity, but when I get a manicure I love to chat with the technicians and this is not possible with the Vietnamese I have encountered in the past. My situation does not allow me to do anything else while getting a manicure, and it is extremely awkward for me to just sit there and watch them cut my nails without being able to communicate effectively.

The new county I live in has unbelievable times for the children to be going to school. Why does this affect me you might ask? Well, my caregiver needs to get her children off to school, and given the climate here and everywhere else in America, it is not prudent to let the children go to the bus stop by themselves. If she comes here immediately after getting her son off to elementary school we have very little time to get anything of substance done after I get up and eat, because she needs to be back on her way home by around 2:15 p.m. to get her daughter. I try to save gas as much as possible and these time constraints only allow us to get about one small thing done each day, which definitely requires us to make more trips than I am used to. I am also having a much more difficult time getting to the movies and just going shopping whenever I feel like it. This is something that I did not anticipate when I moved into this area and I am hoping I can find a solution to this dilemma.

I must admit that I knew I was going to miss my other neighbors greatly, but I had no idea how much. While my new neighbors are nice, the atmosphere is just not the same. In my previous neighborhood, the ladies congregated at a makeshift bus stop every day and then allow their children to play outside for a short amount of time. This allowed all of us to enjoy a few minutes together and talk about what is going on in our lives. There is nothing like that up here. I am, however, considering organizing a party in early November so that everyone in my new neighborhood can get to know everyone else and me as well. Maybe then we can get people to lighten up a little bit. My life might also become a little less tedious. I really need to take the bull by the horns and start to get involved in advocacy once again. Reading Kenny's provocative entry on the current state of health care has made me realize that I really need to get out there and become more involved in what is going on in my society. Simply sitting at home and writing everyone for support on certain issues is really not enough for me. I need to start attending meetings and getting the contacts I enjoyed in my previous county.

BTW, if you do not feel you're getting an opportunity to be involved in your community, the one thing that everyone has a chance to do is VOTE. Make sure you become involved and have your voice heard. I could care less what particular party you tend to associate with, but at least have your voice heard. It really irks me when people complain and I ask if they voted in the last election and they respond in a negative fashion. At least when I bitch, I can say that I didn't vote for those individuals or that my particular candidate is not living up to the expectations I had.

I sincerely hope everyone has an outstanding week and I am really going to be working hard, well, maybe not that hard, on my next entry.

Normal weekend

Trying to chronicle what I have been doing lately is rather difficult. For some reason I just have not felt like writing down very much of what has been going on, but I will endeavor to do so today. This weekend was relatively noneventfull, as normal. I am once again experiencing a very enervating sense of desolation. Company is what I really need or at least just a hobby.

It is amazing how I could not wait to get back to my normal living situation and now that I am living at once again, I am feeling a lot more in need of companionship. It's ironic how things turn out. Well, I'm going to cut that short today.

On second thought, I did make it to the movies this weekend and got a chance to see the new film Fly Boys. Although it is filled with some serious historical inaccuracies, it is a pretty decent film and well worth going to the theater to watch. Of course, it has to have the compulsory love story, despite its improbability, however, even this did not diminish the overall entertainment the movie provided.
Till later.